Its officially winter here next week and Shasta Lake is holding true to her winter patterns.  We're seeing a really good grade of trout and the occasional King salmon.  Trolling spoons shallow in the 2.5-3.0 mph speed range is consistently taking fish every day we have fished this late fall season.  I don't expect anything to change in the next few months and I believe we'll continue to catch some of the bigger specimens in the lake right now.  Not to get ahead of myself but the BIG spring browns will start showing up in February and March.  We're seeing plenty of fish lower in the lake arms but going up high in the river/creek arms should not be ignored.  Dry Creek and Big backbone down in the lower part of the lake and up the Sacramento and McCloud River arms should provide plenty of action for the patient anglers.  We get lots of weather moving through the upper Sacramento Valley and that can play with the bite day in and day out.  Some days it helps us and others not so much but we havent had any skunk days on Shasta Lake all year.  The lake is on a slow rise now and with this weeks rains we should see a bigger bump in levels now.  Either way I expect water conditions to remain good through the new year.  I'm taking a short Christmas holiday break with my family but I'll report on what I see on my next fun fishing trip soon.  I would like to thank everyone who came out to fish with us this year.  We truly value the frienships and support we've experienced in 2023.  

Captain Jeff Goodwin